Catholic bishop warns against rise of anti-Christian bigotry in U.S.

Bishop Thomas Paprocki is not the kind of Catholic leader who minces words. The prelate, who presides over the Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, warns that anti-Christian bigotry in the U.S. is on the rise and that the media is to blame.

In this exclusive interview with the Communities @TheWashingtonTimes, Paprocki shared his concerns about the growing hate and hostility for Judeo-Christian values in the U.S. and the attacks on Pope Francis and the Catholic Church in general.

“We [Christians] have to mentally adjust. I know it is an adjustment for me because – and I assume for many other people as well – because I grew up in this country at a time when the values in our secular world mirrored the values of the religious world,” Bishop Paprocki said. “And I think what’s happening now is that relationship – that symbiosis between our culture and the church -has been ruptured.

Paprocki compares today’s situation in the U.S. to Christians being persecuted under Communist regimes and even in ancient times.

“We [Christians] find ourselves now – just in this short period of time – where the early Christians found themselves in the Roman Empire. So the church in 2,000 years, we started out as being a persecuted faith, with Constantine being an accepted established faith, then for centuries, kind of moving in that direction that had this close relationship between the secular world’s values and Judeo-Christian values,” Bishop Paprocki said. “And now I think we are moving in a direction that – not only is it more than secular – it’s a rejection. It’s an outright rejection [of Judeo-Christian values]. It’s a pagan kind of a culture.”